Istanbul’s 6 Best Coffee Shops For Working

There’s nothing more important for a freelancer than a cozy seat, some food, and a reliable (free) wireless connection. With the age of 9-5 office work slowly reaching its extinction, Istanbul’s cafes harbor the laptop and headphone-clad, liberated workers of tomorrow. We picked out the best spots in the city of Istanbul where you can get some work done while enjoying some good coffee and food.

Müz Botanik & Kahve

With a counter right by the window and the large communal table in the middle of this botanic garden-inspired café, Müz offers the perfect place to really get some serious work done. It is not only the home office you wish you’d always had but also a coffee shop and seller of terrariums, plants and jewellery from local designers.

Journey

Another delightful communal table on the second floor of Journey, a super popular café in the bohemian Cihangir neighborhood, is a freelancer haven. You’ll want to spend hours at this cozy café/restaurant, so it’s quite the boon that their food is also very delicious. We recommend their homemade pasta dishes as well as the very delicious Turkish staples like köfte.

Şimdi

The comfy couches in the front and back of this popular café/restaurant are the perfect place to get comfortable and type away. Known for its excellent coffee, Şimdi also has a full menu of delicious dishes, from the delectable chicken with green curry soup to the very tasty grilled salmon.

Café Cuma

There’s a lot to say about this cozy café. Let’s start with Cuma’s pancakes, which happen to be the best in town, the appetizing display of homemade cakes and pastries, the lovely outside terrace and the warm and inviting communal table upstairs that feels like someone’s home instead of a cafe. You’ll definitely get a lot of work done here and eat some sweet treats you’ll never forget.

Mavra

Quite the institution on Galata’s Serdar-ı Ekrem Street, Mavra is one of those cafes where you’ll always see the same cool people from the neighborhood hanging out, as well as the few tourists that happened to have wandered in. The large table by the entrance is the perfect spot to work undisturbed for hours and their delicious food (our favorite is the pasta) will not leave your hungry. By the time 5pm rolls around, ask for some tea and a slice of the homemade chocolate cake.

Karabatak Karaköy

Karabatak, meaning ‘cormorant’, was one of the first cafes to open in Karaköy, helping it to become one of Istanbul’s most popular neighborhoods. It’s colorful interior with an Austrian theme, due to their use of Julius Meinl coffees, includes bikes and vintage posters and objects. You can spend ages here working as well as spying on the cool people that walk past.